Strong storm inflicts damage in Miles area

Tree limbs felled, garage is battered

SAN ANGELO, Texas - A strong storm system caught Miles residents by surprise Thursday, bringing down tree limbs across town and destroying a garage on the northern outskirts of town.

Loud thunder about 6:15 p.m. was followed by 50-mph wind lasting approximately 10 minutes. The system dropped a half-inch of rain in Miles, about 20 miles northeast of San Angelo, within 20-25 minutes. Mathis Field had recorded only a trace of rain for San Angelo as of 8:15 p.m. Thursday, said Patrick Doll, meteorologist for the National Weather Service at Mathis Field. The thunderstorms were scattered, with more spots in San Angelo receiving heavy rainfall early Thursday evening.

The storm system was part of an upper-level disturbance that moved northward from just southeast of the Big Bend, Doll said.

What some residents thought might have been a tornado moving in from the north was a line of low clouds preceding the storm, said Matt Groh, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Angelo.

“The conditions weren’t favorable for a tornado,” Groh said. “What people saw was a linear feature. ... a line of low clouds that come in before a thunderstorm and big winds.”

Groh estimated the winds at 50 mph.

Large tree limbs were down all over town, with almost half a tree blocking the road next to the First Baptist Church parsonage on Ferguson Street.

Trampolines went flying against two houses, and one resident reported that his neighbor’s small barn was damaged.

There also was a report of damage to a garage and its contents on the outskirts of town. No other structural damage was reported.

Groh said the NWS had only received one other report of damage between San Angelo and Blackwell.

“What Miles had was very localized,” he said.

The winds at Mathis Field reached 33 mph, Doll said.

More rain is forecast for today and Saturday, with a 30 percent chance both days, Doll said. The high is expected to be 89 degrees today, and 93 on Saturday.